Tally steps up to fill out line printer choices

As HP steps away, printer companies give 3000 sites their first choice

HP may not see as much potential in the 3000 customer as it once did, but the vendor’s view isn’t shared at Tally Computer Printers (425.251.5500, 3000newswire.tallyus.com). If not for HP’s 2001 exit from the line printer business — followed a few months later by its notice of leaving the 3000 market by 2007 — Tally might not have rolled out a 3000-compatible lineup.

“With HP’s discontinuation of service and selling the line printer products, we saw an opportunity,” said Chris Folk, product manager for the Tally LJ Series that started running in 3000 sites last fall. “When HP had it all sewed up, and you were buying an HP branded product with HP service, it was tougher to compete than when they started staying, ‘You can’t buy it from us — go see these other guys.’ “

The other guys are Printronix, a publicly-traded company versus privately-held Tally and among industry leaders in line printer revenues. Printronix was actually building HP’s LineJet printers for HP when the computer vendor stepped away from its line printer business in mid-2001. The Printronix sales message to 3000 sites was “you’re getting exactly what HP was selling, just from the manufacturer.” And Printronix was quick to line up HP’s sales channel, and engage the HP support organization.

Tally's 6200LJ printer

Tally responded last year by introducing the first product that gives 3000 sites a choice in line printers. The devices are far from sexy technology, compared to the laser printers and inkjet lines which HP works to dominate with its broad sales channel and lucrative consumables businesses. But line printers line up well with cost-conscious customers, a profile in plentiful supply among HP 3000 sites.

Starting early last fall Tally began to ship printers to school districts, municipalities and small to mid-size manufacturers. “These are customers who want to hang onto their HP 3000s,” said Jerry Mills at Tally’s reseller Ideal Computer Solutions, customers who are on tight budgets. At places like the Solano County Sheriff’s Office and the California Education Computer Consortium schools, the Tally units are replacing old 256X HP line printers that have been running since the early 1990s.

“HP’s done a great job of selling distributed printing,” Mills said. “But anybody who’s paying attention to print costs will be paying a lot more if they’re not using line printers.”

Faster and cheaper

Tally’s Folk isn’t bashful about comparing his product to the Printronix lineup. He reels off retail cost savings that range from $900 to $3,000 per printer against the Printronix units, and adds that he’s got more models that understand the HP 3000’s PJL. He also makes it sound like some Tally engineering choices make the products more reliable.

In paper handling, all Tally models except the 500 line per minute (lpm) use four tractors instead of two, above and below the print station. The speed the printer advances paper through blank spaces is higher because of a straight paper path. Thick forms are held tighter across the print station “so we get better print quality.” The company touts its SmartRibbon, a patented design that renews print quality by re-inking throughout the ribbon’s 250 million-character life. Tally claims the SmartRibbon’s print density at the end of service is nearly the same as other manufacturer’s offerings at beginning of life.

The 6212LJ has a 13.6-inch print width, a duty cycle of up to 345,000 pages per month, and a speed rating of 1200 lpm. It’s faster and cheaper than the competition, and one hardware service company in Texas reported at the Greater Houston RUG show that the Tally units had been more reliable than the Printronix counterparts working in HP 3000 shops.

Tally doesn’t have every advantage in the comparisons. The Printronix lineup includes a power stacker, and Tally’s LJ printers don’t offer one. But controlling Tally’s printers is a matter of loading a plug-in for HP’s Web JetAdmin software. And the support network covers 280 metropolitan locations in North America and 13 countries worldwide. HP 3000 customers often want to know if a non-HP product can be serviced in their companies’ more remote locations.

Tally also had the advantage of seeing the Printronix offering for the 3000 market, and being able to add features and models, Folk said. “I’ve got more options and more models than they have, so when it came time to introduce the LJ Series, I just looked at what Printronix was offering.” Ethernet is standard on all but the 500-lpm model, and quietized cabinets are available, as are pedestals.

The future of HP’s involvement in the 3000 is certain to fade, but Printronix said at last year’s HP World show that it will follow its own course about how long it sells 3000-compatible line printers. Tally sees more opportunity now with less HP involvement. Folk heard rumors of the 3000’s demise since his days at connectivity supplier WRQ. “That was six years ago,” he says, “and even then they were talking about killing the 3000. There’s an awful lot of people that aren’t going to be moving away from them in a big hurry.”